Each week, "One Defining Moment" will dive into the game's most important moment and break it down in all its glory, or in unfortunate cases, its horror. This week: a defective offense, somehow given the opportunity to make the game competitive, gives it away with a pair of useless fullback dives.
The Iowa offense had no business being on the field Saturday. If you didn't get the chance to watch the first half, the stats may have convinced you they weren't out there at all.
If only we could have opted for that option.
After a disastrous game against Purdue, Iowa spent its extra week of preparation... doing absolutely nothing. The offensive line looked as bad as it has all season, the quarterback showed no signs of improvement and the wide receivers dropped too many of the few opportunities they had. As the story has been far too often for Iowa, the defense did all they could to keep them in the game. Against all odds, the offense found themselves with the ball and a chance to cut the Badger lead to one score late in the third quarter.
Needing two yards on two plays, Iowa opted against even a single ounce of creativity and instead tried a pair of fullback dives, failing on both and throwing away their last chance at salvaging a once-magical season.
The Moment
Iowa's first half was a nightmare and the 20-0 deficit they faced felt both fortunate and insurmountable. The defense forced a pair of three-and-outs to start the third quarter, which the Iowa offense somehow turned into a touchdown. Wisconsin gifted Iowa plus field position again on the ensuing drive and Iowa found themselves with a 3rd & 2 on the Wisconsin 40-yard line. A conversion and they were likely to get at least a field goal. Iowa was stuffed on a fullback dive on third down but wasted no time deciding to go for it on fourth down, even calling a time out to make sure they had their best playcall. That playcall? Another fullback dive. It worked no better the second time and Iowa turned it over on downs. Opportunity gone, and with it, any thoughts that this Iowa team is anything less than fatally flawed.
A Closer Look
A fullback dive isn't a complex play. The offensive line needs to move the line of scrimmage enough for a big bowling ball of a player to stumble through and hopefully fall forward for two yards. It's not sexy, but if your offensive line wins, it can be effective.
On third down, the middle of the line got a small push, but Wisconsin's defensive line collapsed from the edge instantly to blow the play up. The right side of the Iowa line was beaten so quickly that Pottebaum had no chance.
The fourth down playcall was nothing short of insanity. Trying the same thing over again, expecting a different result. To be fair, the result was different the second time around. This time, it wasn't just the right side of the line that lost, it was the whole group. Wisconsin got lower than Iowa, clogged the running lanes, and collapsed the hole. Pottebaum did what he can be expected to, rumbled forward in a straight line, but there was nowhere to go. It was simple domination by the Badgers, which is as much an indictment of the playcall as it is of the result.
Impact
Iowa was unlikely to win the game even if they had converted on third or fourth down. This offense hasn't shown anything to make me believe they'll ever score 20 points unless the defense does 95% of the work for them. Still, there's no excuse for not being at least competent.
We so rarely get competent offense at Iowa, though. Apparently, our only option is repeatedly slamming ourselves into a brick wall, hoping we'll somehow break through, even as our body gets more and more worn down.
Back-to-back fullback dives would be stupid with a good offensive line. Back-to-back fullback dives should be fireable with this offensive line. Kirk and Brian--and I'm not sure or particularly interested in which one is really the root of this problem--saw the offensive line all day Saturday, saw them fail against Purdue, see them in practice every day, and still thought their best chance at picking up two yards was handing it off to a converted linebacker.
A better coach might adapt his playbook based on what he's seeing. He'd consider tailoring his playcalls to his team's strengths, or at least to hide its weaknesses. Move the pocket, use motion or misdirection to hold the defense, do something to show that the goal is more than ineptitude. It's not "conservative," "old-school," or "complementary." It's ineffective, stubborn, and crippling. Worse, the coaching staff seems okay with it.
You'd think the coaching staff would be as fed up with it as the rest of us are. Change is hard, but if Kirk and Brian Ferentz aren't willing to change anything to make this offense better, then maybe there's a different change that we need to start discussing.
Or we could try another fullback dive. I'm sure it will work the next time.
